<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Looking At Me by FullOfBoredom</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28948050">Looking At Me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FullOfBoredom/pseuds/FullOfBoredom'>FullOfBoredom</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Undertale (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Murder</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:54:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,301</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28948050</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FullOfBoredom/pseuds/FullOfBoredom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cross's first day on the job.</p>
<p>AKA. Murder Trio Shows Off</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Looking At Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Based on the song "Looking at Me" by Sabrina Carpenter, which I recommend listening to at least once. I cannot stress this enough.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Accompany the others. You’ll learn best that way.” Cross stood up straighter, trying to impress his new boss. Nightmare had found him in his timeline and brought him in under the agreement he’d serve directly under him as a hired mercenary of sorts. He hadn’t hesitated to say yes. Anything was better than his timeline, empty as it was.</p>
<p>“Yes sir. Where should I meet them?” Cross was confident in his skills but he wanted to scope out these others he’d be working with. Nightmare’s satisfied smile filled Cross with foreboding. </p>
<p>“They’re just outside the door.” </p>
<p>The door opened to three very different looking skeletons, all a little…<em>off</em>. He waited for Nightmare to introduce him.</p>
<p>“Heya Boss. We gunna make a move on that rude kingdom or what?” A skeleton in white shorts, this guy had some sort of black paint traced down from his eyes.</p>
<p>“Patience Killer. I was preparing the new team member to join you. This is Cross.” His cyan eye traced over to the skeleton with a giant crack in his skull. “Try to dedicate it to memory Horror.”</p>
<p>“Gotcha Boss.” Horror dragged an axe behind him, hauling it up when Nightmare made the portal. “Orders?” Night scoffed.</p>
<p>“Wipe that pitiful place from the map. Show him what I expect. And Cross?” He snapped to attention. “It’s your first outing, so let me illuminate: I don’t have patience for failure so <em>do not disappoint me</em>.” Then he waved them off to their mission. “Now go.”</p>
<p>They all jumped through quickly, hitting the ground just on the outskirts of a smaller castle, hidden by the shadow of the treeline from the eyes of the guards pacing along the tower tops. </p>
<p>“So newbie, here’s the deal. Follow us, and try not to get in the way. Don’t get much easier than kill everyone, so remember these faces and aim at anyone else.” Killer cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders, bouncing on his knees. “Anything to add there Dust?”</p>
<p>“Don’t die.” Dust turned his odd colored eyes over to the fresh blood. Cross suppressed a shiver while Killer howled like a hyena.</p>
<p>“Holy shit Dusty, you’re great. Yeah, don’t do that. I’m good to go. You ready Horror?” Killer flipped out a blade from nowhere, too fast for Cross to even see. It glinted in the moonlight. The lumbering skeleton turned to face Killer before walking towards the place.</p>
<p>“Yeah.”</p>
<p>The first wall took no time to breach. Horror had broken down the front door and they walked right in. Unfortunately, a guard drill was taking place in the courtyard, so it had most of the armed forces right within view.</p>
<p>“Hang back guys. I got this one.” Killer winked at Cross. “Take notes.” Cross rolled his eyes. There were near fifteen heavily armed men in front of them, and Cross felt five would be a good match for himself, considering their stats he could check. He leaned back on the wall behind him, keeping an eye on the peripheral for back up.</p>
<p>Killer rushed headlong into the action, a stupid move by most accounts, but he’d moved so fast. His blade ran clean through one soldier, armor and all. He flung him off his knife with a flourish.</p>
<p>“Let’s dance.”</p>
<p>He cleanly cut off the first taker’s arm, head with the second swing. He shoved the body forward, knocking over another, scaring a third. An attacker went for his back.</p>
<p>With a swing of his hips, he dodged the attack at his spine. He grabbed the blade and spun, using his back as leverage to wrench it out of the offender’s hands. He cut them off with his knife and blocked another sword swing with his stolen weapon.</p>
<p>Killer parried the next clash, crossing swords to slide down, handles pressed together, one of his hands to his opponent’s two. He pushed up with his elbow to create an opening to get clean through the chest. When he pushed this body back, he did it hard enough to impale another. Before the impaled bodies could fall, he snatched the blade handle again, kicking up one leg to force them off of it.</p>
<p>He jumped over the attack at his one leg, smashing a foot into the fifth’s jaw. It dislocated with a sickening crack. Sixth and seventh tried to attack at the same time, but ate a blade into their throats for the trouble. Killer swayed his way towards the rest, stopping to dig the sword through the first person he’d knocked over, trying to hide under a dead body. They wheezed out a final breath. </p>
<p>Nine screamed a battle cry before rushing. Killer tossed his knife up, taking the sword right through the ribs and repaid the favor. Nine’s body fell to the ground. Killer pulled the sword out and spun to chuck them directly into No-Hands and Dislocated Jaw’s skull. He caught his knife with a grin</p>
<p>Six left. Cross had forgotten to breathe.</p>
<p>Killer ran up to horrified bystander Ten, stabbing upwards through their chin, yanking out the knife when the light in their eyes died. He grabbed the mace off their corpse. He got in one full wind up before smashing into Eleven’s sneak attack. Twelve hadn’t expected the just as fast throw, eating the spikes in seconds flat in a bloody spray.</p>
<p>“Fuck you!” Unlucky Thirteen attempted to swing for the throat, but Killer wasn’t having it. With a quick duck, he’s wrenched his hand under the front of the plate armor to gut the poor idiot. His hand slid down Thirteen’s horrified face, blood dribbling out of his mouth that Killer dragged his fingers through.</p>
<p>“No, fuck you.” His voice drops to something husky, eyes half lidded with the thrill of it. LV felt good in the moment, the burns wouldn’t come until the next day, or maybe not at all, Cross couldn’t tell anymore if he was dealing with a skeleton bound by the same physical limits as his own.</p>
<p>“I’m always good for a threesome.” He stalks towards Fourteen and Fifteen, gracefully as a tiger, waiting to pounce.</p>
<p>“You sick freak!” One went for him, trying to use the shield he was holding, but Killer was faster. </p>
<p>“Always.” He kicked hard at Fourteen’s left knee, bending it fully the wrong way. He collapsed with a scream, escalating to inhuman wails when he yanks the shield off so hard, it dislocates the left shoulder and right elbow. He finished with a clean neck snap, Fourteen dropping as a pretzel of a man.</p>
<p>Fifteen couldn’t breathe a word before Killer’s knife was embedded in his right forearm. It’s wretched high above his head, left wrist going limp in a vice grip.</p>
<p>“Let’s finish this little performance, shall we?” The knife dragged up to catch on the wrist, curved to hook and drag the bloody mess along with Killer’s tango, stepping in time to the horrified screeching.</p>
<p>He unhooked the knife to spin his partner outward. Killer yanked him back, letting go just before Killer met his chest. </p>
<p>With a twirl, he decapitated Fifteen with a flair, blood spurting into a light shower over his skull. He met Cross’s eyes when he licked the blood spray off his teeth.</p>
<p>Dust sarcastically clapped, Killer bowing to his ‘audience.’ Horror grumbled about wasting something, but Cross can’t hear it over the loud clang that follows. When he turns to the courtyard again, a new challenger has appeared.</p>
<p>A hulking knight, he glared at Killer and pulls out his greatsword with a patient rage, controlled and channeled. He raised the point of it at Killer’s amused grin.</p>
<p>“You shall fall here beast.” Killer didn’t move. Barely acknowledges that the contender spoke at all, just changed his stance, ready to take whatever this guy has to dish out.</p>
<p>The huge knight swung his blade into the confident Killer. Beside him, he could hear the light shuffle of slippers. Cross couldn’t look away from the clash, the blood spattered Killer blocking the arc with his knife but the unexpected amount of pure power broke through his guard and flung him into the wall. The blade followed the path, about to cut into Killer’s arm, but another blade clashed with his.</p>
<p>“Mind if I cut in?” Dust stood over Killer, holding the sword back with one hand.</p>
<p>“Heh, show off. Go ahead.” Killer stuck his tongue out. He laughed, shaking his head at the knight. “You’re fucked dude.” </p>
<p>“You monsters won’t best me! I will defend the princess!” The knight swung again, but Dust didn’t flinch when it made contact. He pushed back with no effort, knight thrown off balance.</p>
<p>Dust’s approach was as instantaneous as it was inescapable. He appeared behind the hulking opponent in a flash to dig his knife in as deep as it could go into Sixteen’s side. Just as quickly, it was out and Dust returned to before Sixteen’s eyes. </p>
<p>“Wh-wha-what?” Sixteen’s hand dropped to the fresh wound, disbelieving but unable to turn back. He returned to his confident stance, ready for another attack.</p>
<p>By now, Killer had moved away from the immediate area, freeing up Dust to do whatever he wanted without friendly fire as a consideration. Cross watched carefully for whatever technique Dust would show, especially after the artistry Killer performed.</p>
<p>Sixteen let loose a flurry of attacks. Cross evaluated his area control. His greatsword thrusted forward, curving and swinging to cover the entire field Dust occupied. </p>
<p>Dust’s smooth evasion was faster. Sixteen couldn’t hit him, only able to hit the air in the last place he could track with his eyes. On the flip side, Dust yawned. When he got truly bored, he caught an attack directly against the knife hilt. He blinked into Sixteen’s face, giving him a matching wound on the other side. </p>
<p>This time though, Sixteen anticipated it, smashing his armored elbow down into Dust’s skull, the point catching Dust’s cheek even as he dodged backwards.</p>
<p>A thin red line. It stood out against his dusty complexion, matching his determined eyes. Dust freed his blade, blinked back, then raised his fingers to touch it. He wiped off a streak.</p>
<p>“Heh.” Dust pressed the finger into his mouth, eyes getting wider and wider. “Heh heh…HahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” The taste of his own blood flipped the switch. Cross felt the air shift, a bolt of terror striking him from just one glance at those mad eyes.</p>
<p>“Thank you! NOW DIE!”</p>
<p>The knight swung to intercept. Dust cut the blade in two. He reached him in two steps.</p>
<p>“HEH HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Dust kicked the center of Sixteen’s chest, flinging him into the wall he’d dropped from not much earlier. Dust followed along to ram the blade into Sixteen’s wielding shoulder. He stomped on the greatsword handle, clattering to the ground under the newly broken fingers.</p>
<p>Dust giggled, knife dug an inch in, tracing absurd patterns into his screaming opponent. Sixteen begged for death before Dust had plucked out the first eye.</p>
<p>The second eye had taken another two minutes, before the psycho finally got bored and slid his weapon solidly into Sixteen’s heart, between his ribs, humming when the heart stopped beating around the knife, body vibrating with the need to silence every heartbeat he could hear.</p>
<p>Dust grinned at Cross while he laughed, turning to Killer with wide eyes.</p>
<p>“I’m done putting on a show. Can we kill them now?” </p>
<p>“I’d never stop you from killing Dusty. I’ll let you pick which wing you want even.” Killer cackled when Dust took off like a rocket down the right path, only the echoes of Dust’s psychotic laughter and screams drifting back in their direction. Cross almost followed, but a hand dropped on his shoulder.</p>
<p>“Dust’ll kill you. He don’t do control very well.” Horror’s vacant stare impressed the danger upon him. “Only warning you get. Let’s finish up.”</p>
<p>Cross walked directly across the courtyard to the back of the castle, cutting down whoever he came across, trailed by Horror who kept his back clear with his wide axe cuts. Killer had gone down the left wing. </p>
<p>Cross took in Horror compared to the other two. There really wasn’t a comparison between them. Killer and Dust had power and grace, smooth and calculated in battle. Cuts were even and precise, like a planned wound that they could see before it happened, skills borne of a million kills to know the outcome. </p>
<p>Horror’s axe cut unevenly, not kept pristinely sharp like their weapons. He lugged it behind him, eyes unfocused, just cutting down whatever stood ahead. He attacked whatever he could swing at. Clean kills apparently didn’t matter, the only technique he could even parse out was hitting the same spot more than once, focused damage dealt like one chopped down a tree. Horror also didn’t appear to have nearly as much strength as the other two abominations, not struggling per say, but seemed to be near Cross’s level or slightly below in pure power. Nightmare keeping him eased Cross’s mind about not fitting in with the absolute monsters that were Killer and Dust.</p>
<p>They ended up in a throne room, throne overturned to a tunnel beneath. The princess must’ve been evacuated during the shuffle.</p>
<p>“Did we lose some of them?” Killer leaned against the doorway, looking less than impressed. “The princess can’t survive, she’ll just cause trouble.”</p>
<p>“I can’t feel any more souls in the castle.” Dust stepped around the other side of the doorway. His face looked a little calmer, though his hands trembled with bloodlust. Cross tried to breathe through his raising anxiety. He REALLY didn’t wait to fail Nightmare on day one.</p>
<p>“She’s not far.” Horror stooped down to the ground, looking at the torn carpet beside the throne. His eyes closed, taking in a deep breath. “Got it. Let’s go.”</p>
<p>Dust wordlessly held out his hand, taking Horror away in a blip. Killer swaggered up to offer his own to Cross.</p>
<p>“You ain’t gunna want to miss this Criss Cross.” Cross stared at the bloody hand with disdain. He took it, disgusted. They reappeared at the edge of the forest behind the castle, Horror and Dust just ahead. Too distracted, he didn’t catch Killer yanking him down until he almost fell over.</p>
<p>“What are you!-”</p>
<p>“I saw your fucking eyes.” Killer pointed his knife over Cross’s nasal crest. “You best pay attention newbie. You might think you’re not the bottom of the totem pole, but let me tell ya, ya’re outclassed.” He dragged the tip softly down the line of his eye socket. “Watch closely and realize you ain’t got shit on ANY of us.” He dropped Cross to walk over to the duo moving along the forest’s edge, Cross hitting the dirt hard.</p>
<p>Holy shit, Nightmare employed some crazy bastards. </p>
<p>Killer had a point though, he HAD judged Horror, found him lacking, and moved on. The recognition of his judgement wasn’t disproved yet though. He followed over to the group, barely making it before Horror’s head snapped to the right.</p>
<p>“There.” Horror leaned down to grab a few stones before taking off through the woods. The other two walked into the dark with him.</p>
<p>Killer, Dust, and Cross moved through the underbrush, trying to keep up with Horror’s quick walk. He twisted and turned without thought, following an invisible trail that he alone could track, not halted by any of the obstacles of the forest at night. It took all of Cross’s focus to walk steadily and not tumble over something gnarled and wet in all this black.</p>
<p>Cross squinted at the hunter, trying to see the thread he was following. By the light, he could see nothing to follow, no trail of broken branches and muddy footprints to track. Hearing when they were all behind him making an equal if louder sound seemed out of the question.</p>
<p>He turned to Killer to ask, but Killer had a finger on his teeth. <em>Quiet</em>. Then slowly tapped his nose. It took Cross fifteen long seconds.</p>
<p>He…was following her SCENT?! Where would he have even got the initial whiff? <em>Got it</em>. Then?! That’d been instantaneous and faint to begin with.</p>
<p>Compared to the massive crunching sounds Cross could hear from himself and the other two, Horror’s movement was suddenly silent. He’d hauled his axe up off the ground, sliding between trees without so much as a scrape, silently tracking until his head cricked to the side while walking. Without a word, he plucked a stone out of his pocket and chucked it off to the left. There was the sound of wood being chipped, then the softer sound of crunching. Horror turned towards the right, still quiet as the grave.</p>
<p>Even Cross could tell she was close.</p>
<p>With a slowly widening grin, he took off right, racing ahead with remarkably quiet speed. The crunches dwarfed those of the target, whose hurried stumbling across the roots of the trees rang like thunder by comparison. </p>
<p>Another pebble, flung with precision, and the princess practically ran into Horror’s arms.</p>
<p>“Good try.”</p>
<p>“AHHHHH!” She flailed back, falling onto the ground still screaming. To the side, he could hear the soft chuckles of the other two, looking at Horror and his prey with amused anticipation.</p>
<p>Horror raised his axe for a killing blow. The princess tried to punch him, but he dodged so her hand slipped by. He turned his head to line up his mouth with the forearm presented. </p>
<p>Horror caught Cross’s eye and smirked as he opened his jaw and bit down.</p>
<p>She screamed bloody murder when he took out the chunk, swinging down the axe to take the whole limb off at the shoulder. The loose arm hung from his mouth. He reached up to grab the elbow, pulling to tear off a chunk of the meat. Horror swallowed with a satisfied rumble. The princess cowered under him, frozen when he raised the axe again.</p>
<p>Right at the neck, curved to break the bones down into her sternum. It came free with a wet squelch. Horror grabbed at each side of the crooked break, yanking her warm corpse open with horrifying creaks and pops as the bones gave way, leaking red and revealing the varied organs within her body. Horror’s hand dug around and pulled back with his prize.</p>
<p>He bit into the heart like an apple. Cross wasn’t even sure it had stopped beating. The thought made bile rise in his throat, taking one step back. Horror chewed away, completely relaxed as they made their way back.</p>
<p>“Judge and you’ll be next.” Dust met Cross’s eyes before turning to walk next to Horror. Killer sidled up next to Cross.</p>
<p>“Have fun with the inferiority complex bastard.” Killer’s sharp smile burned into Cross’s mind. </p>
<p>The entire evening had made one thing very clear: his work was cut out for him.</p>
<p>The portal home opened and they stepped in, the castle’s carpets beneath their feet in an instant. Nightmare looked up from his paperwork. He made eye contact with Cross, holding it until sweat formed on his skull.</p>
<p>“We killed everyone in the area.” Cross reported. Nightmare leaned back, soaking in the positively delicious negative emotions pouring off his overwhelmed brain.</p>
<p>“Wonderful. Then again, I sent you with my best.” Nightmare crossed his fingers to rest his chin on them, endlessly amused. “So, did you learn anything from them Cross?”</p>
<p>“I have a lot of work to do.” </p>
<p>“The correct answer. Killer, lead him to the free room, shower, and training area. I’m sure our new recruit has need of all of them.” He spun his chair around to stare out the giant glass overlook of their courtyard.</p>
<p>“Gotcha Boss.” Nightmare inclined his head, facing them one more time as they made the move to exit.</p>
<p>“Good night Cross, and welcome to my castle.”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>